IT'S AUGUST!

Okay, you turned your calendar page, right?

You scanned through the filled-in squares on your cell phone calendar, right? Mine has a couple of birthdays!

So you're ready to go! August, 8th month of our year, named in honor of the Roman emperor Augustus, in the year 8 BCE.

If you want to know more "awesome" things about August, check out The Fact Site.

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In my neighborhood, folks are keeping up with the lawn (heavy rains every so often keep us green, but also make mowing a necessity, whether we have the time or energy or not.

Our community is revving up for the new school year. A local group called Warm a Heart is loading up backpacks for students. We pitched in with a donation of school scissors (a helpful list on Facebook made it easy to choose and click to buy).

No doubt stores are crowded with parents filling shopping carts with school clothes and classroom supplies, plus the family groceries. I have to say, I don't miss that part of my life; getting four kids ready for a new school year was a job in itself.

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In these last few days before the big yellow buses trundle down the street to pick up students, there'll be last-minute swims, picnics, family visits with grandparents, maybe even a short car trip to a campground.

Once the school doors open, left-behind parents can take a deep breath, maybe drink another cup of coffee, and stop running so fast. Even going to work will seem easier.

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August always signals for me the beginning of canning season. Even though I no longer have a garden to tend, nurture, and harvest, I think of my children who have big gardens and will soon be canning tomatoes, green beans, and squash; then when the weather chills everything and fresh stuff is about gone, it'll be time to make jams and jellies.

Having done all those things in another life (long before I retired), I know how much work is involved. When I receive gifts of canned goods from my family, I honor the hard work and hours spent bending over plants they tend.

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Wishing you a joyful August--wherever you are, whatever season you're experiencing.

Blessings,

Thursday's Child